Perez once again with a great drive manages to be in the right place at the right time to get his second podium at Force India yet Hülkenberg unfortunately finds himself out of the race and still without a podium to his name. Will the stars ever align for Hülkenberg to find himself on the podium, or will it be another case of so close yet so far?

No. I think his chance for a top drive has been and gone now that Ferrari have not taken him up for next year. I rate him highly and have always though he was worthy of an opportunity to prove himself at the top but I don't see it happening now. Podiums in midfield cars are incredibly difficult to come by and in spite of his team mate managing it a couple of times I wouldn't count on it happening no matter how good he may be.

I'm still unsure. If he does I think it will be through a race like today's where it's chaotic and the chips just fall right for him to end up in the front. A few years ago he looked like one of the brightest up and coming stars while Perez was mostly derided. Now they appear to be basically equal and both are outshone by the likes of Verstappen and Sainz so it's only going to get worst

Hulkenberg was faster than Perez in qualifying and while he was fully to blame for his own retirement, such mistakes from him are fairly rare and it's just blind luck that the races where podiums have been on the cards for Force India have happened to be the races where Perez has happened to be the guy in the better position.

I have no doubt that Hulkenberg is a top quality driver (as is Perez), and the big question is whether or not such results will be on the cards again in future for Force India. If McLaren Honda get their act together and if Red Bull get a half decent engine it could get a lot more difficult for them. And it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy - if he doesn't get the car to get a podium for Force India then sadly he's not going to get offered a drive at a team that does have a car, despite so many seats being occupied by drivers who I believe he'd beat on equal terms.

I don't know if he ever will, but you would think that he will eventually get the chance to drive a top car. I can't wait until he does. Really anxious to see how he will do. But when I think of Hulkenberg for some reason Fisichella comes to mind...

I doubt it. His career is coinciding with a period of manufacturer dominance and incredible reliability, but more importantly I'm not sure he's going to be the better driver whenever (if ever) he gets a regularly podium-capable car.

I'm guessing not, but one can never rule out a strange fluke of luck. If the Force India turns out to be capable of mixing it up with the top few next year, it could happen, but I will be surprised if that happens.

So once again Perez is the one who manages to get onto the podium making it his third for the team while Hulkenberg misses out, so I thought now would be a good time to see if anyone has changed their minds or not. Another thing worth adding is that Hulkenberg is now only 26 races away from equalling Adrian Sutil's record of most races entered without a podium. So do you still think Hulkenberg will be on the podium or not in the future?

In the NFL they always talk about the intangibles when evaluating talent. With these two I think in the tangible aspects like speed and working with their crews on setup etc they're pretty equal but Perez comes out on top in the intangibles.

He just seems to be able to make different strategies work, or make that one pass when it's needed most.

In the NFL they always talk about the intangibles when evaluating talent. With these two I think in the tangible aspects like speed and working with their crews on setup etc they're pretty equal but Perez comes out on top in the intangibles.

He just seems to be able to make different strategies work, or make that one pass when it's needed most.

To give another example, in hockey, 'intangibles' that get referenced are stuff like 'heart' and 'compete', where a player is perceived to have more value because he gains a reputation - usually associated to a certain style of play - for something that can't actually be measured. It was one of the reasons the Leafs went out and traded for Dave Bolland, signed David Clarkson, kept playing guys like Colton Orr and Mike Brown, and other such moronic decisions. Fortunately they were one of the early adapters to advanced statistics, hired smart guys like Shanahan, Dubas, Darryl Metcalf and Cam Charron, and those moves, coupled with smart trades and better drafting, mean the future of the franchise looks brighter than for a long, long time.

I've digressed a little there! The point I was going to make is that Perez's ability to make different strategies work (which is because he can make his tyres last) or make a key overtake when necessary are both things that can be measured, so wouldn't be intangibles. Although I'm not sure if you were suggesting they were intangibles, RaggedMan?

It will happen. Both Hulk and Perez are a victim of how good the other one is.

This.

_________________"Clark came through at the end of the first lap so far ahead that we in the pits were convinced that the rest of the field must have been wiped out in an accident."-Eddie Dennis, describing the dominance of Jim Clark in the Lotus 49 at Spa 1967

Perez is good with tyres. He will more often that not make it work. Hulk is on par with him in performance but on true pace FI will not get podium and therefore Hulk chances of podium are less than Perez.

Sixth podium of his career, all of them with midfield cars, 3rd with a Force India. Hulkenberg still none so far.

2012 Sauber was anything but midfield car. His 3rd places with Force India are very impressive though, considering quality of the cars.

2012 Sauber was an upper midfield car. There were kinda fast on some tracks but slow on others. And 2012 was a strange season with lots of surprises in the first few races and most of the cars close in performance.

On the parent site, Hulk says " I could have been on the podium but could not get past the mid field cars"

This is the difference between a good driver and a top driver Nico. Your team mate was, and you were not even right behind him

Perez beat Hulk because he pitted on the right lap not because he could overtake midfield cars. Swap strategies and Hulk would have been third. Assuming he could get his tyres up to speed as quickly. I guess that is a big assumption.

On the parent site, Hulk says " I could have been on the podium but could not get past the mid field cars"

This is the difference between a good driver and a top driver Nico. Your team mate was, and you were not even right behind him

Perez beat Hulk because he pitted on the right lap not because he could overtake midfield cars. Swap strategies and Hulk would have been third. Assuming he could get his tyres up to speed as quickly. I guess that is a big assumption.

On the parent site, Hulk says " I could have been on the podium but could not get past the mid field cars"

This is the difference between a good driver and a top driver Nico. Your team mate was, and you were not even right behind him

Perez beat Hulk because he pitted on the right lap not because he could overtake midfield cars. Swap strategies and Hulk would have been third. Assuming he could get his tyres up to speed as quickly. I guess that is a big assumption.